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Ganesh Prasad vs. Rajeshwar Prasad & Ors. (Civil Appeal No. 1699 of 2023)

Civil Appeal · 2023 INSC 228Decided 14 Mar 2023
Civil Appeal No. 1699 of 2023
Sudhanshu Dhulia · J.B. Pardiwala

Background

The plaintiffs (respondents) claimed ownership of a shop in Ballia and, after their earlier eviction suit against the defendant (as an alleged tenant) was dismissed for non-prosecution in 2010, filed a fresh suit in 2009 under Section 83 of the Transfer of Property Act seeking to redeem a mortgage allegedly created by their father in the defendant's father's favour. The plaintiffs later sought to amend this plaint, and the defendant opposed the amendment, arguing it introduced an inconsistent tenancy case, changed the suit's nature, and was barred because of the earlier dismissed suit. The Civil Judge refused the amendment, but the District Judge (in revision) and then the High Court allowed it.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court upheld the amendment, holding that a plaintiff is entitled to plead alternative and even inconsistent cases (here, tenancy and mortgage-redemption) so long as no injustice results to the other side, relying on a long line of precedent including Firm Sriniwas Ram Kumar and the recent LIC v. Sanjeev Builders guidelines on Order VI Rule 17 CPC. It also rejected the argument that Order IX Rule 9 CPC barred the second suit, since the cause of action in the second suit (mortgage redemption) was different from that in the dismissed first suit (tenancy eviction), and in any event a mortgagor's right to redeem is a recurring cause of action that survives until it is extinguished by law or decree.

Lesson Learnt

Courts are meant to be liberal in permitting amendments to pleadings so the real dispute between parties can be decided, and a party may raise alternative or even inconsistent legal claims in the same suit as long as it does not unfairly prejudice the other side; a suit dismissed for a party's non-appearance does not automatically bar a later suit based on a genuinely different cause of action.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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